Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): Chinook salmon

New online hub pairs landowners with conservation investors

By Kjellen Belcher / Published: December 19, 2017

Assessing habitat for songbirds at a ranch in the Central Valley.

The drive through the Central Valley’s mosaic of agricultural land, water infrastructure, riparian zones and floodplains has become a familiar one for me and my colleagues. We meet frequently with landowners who are creating, restoring and protecting habitat for wildlife on these working lands.

At each farm and ranch we visit, I am inspired by the landowners who are stepping up to do what they can for the at-risk species that are a part of the Central Valley’s ecology and history.

Whether they are managing flooded fields for Chinook salmon and giant garter snakes, planting trees for Swainson’s hawks and riparian songbirds to nest, or allowing native milkweed and wildflowers to grow for monarch butterflies to breed and feed, these landowners are showcasing conservation innovations that honor and sustain the region’s natural heritage. Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged agriculture, california, central valley, central valley habitat exchange, conservation, ecosystems, farmers, giant garter snake, monarch butterfly, ranchers, riparian songbirds, Swainson's hawk, wildlife | Read 3 Responses

What we’ve learned from 50 years of wildlife conservation

By David Festa / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: May 18, 2017

Wildlife conservation practices are helping protect our nation's treasured emblem: the bald eagle

Photo: © Holger Ehlers

When the first endangered species list was created 50 years ago, it started out with 78 animals. The grizzly bear and bald eagle were among American icons that made that first list.

Today, it counts 1,400 animals and 900 plants – an expansion that reflects more petitions for listings over time, but also the fact that threats to habitats and ecosystems have become more widespread and complex.

In the early days of the Endangered Species Act, we could more easily identify the threat and go straight to the source. When DDT was thinning egg shells, killing embryos and endangering multiple bird species, we worked to curb applications of the harmful pesticide. After a federal ban against DDT, the problem was solved.

Today, threats are more likely to come from broad landscape changes that occur when growing populations push housing and commercial developments outward, energy development and large-scale farming fragment and encroach on habitats, and climate change-related droughts and wildfires degrade entire ecosystems. Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged california, colorado, ecosystems, endangered species act success stories, ESA, greater sage-grouse, monarch butterfly, Nevada, Partnerships, Safe Harbor, Swainson's hawk, Wyoming | Comments are closed

California’s new law means more bang for every buck invested in wildlife

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: September 28, 2016

The Swainson's hawk was listed as a threatened species in California in 1983 due to loss of habitat and decreased numbers across the state.

The Swainson’s hawk is one of the at-risk species that AB 2087 benefits.

Prudent investors know to keep a few key things in mind. They anticipate the timing of spending priorities, like retirement, and evaluate investment risk accordingly. They might spread resources across funds to meet different objectives. And of course, they look to maximize their return on investment.

Why shouldn’t these same principles apply to investments in our natural resources?

Thanks to a new bill signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, these principles will now apply to regional conservation investment strategies for wildlife and other resource management activities in California.

AB 2087: A new approach to conservation planning and mitigation

Assembly Bill (AB) 2087 (Levine), will establish voluntary, non-regulatory strategies to help conservationists, local agencies and the state apply core investment principles when planning conservation or mitigation projects.

This legislation comes at a critical time. Expanding development in California has supported a growth in food production, flood protection, transportation and housing, but it has also resulted in various impacts on the environment. The loss and fragmentation of wildlife habitat, in particular, has created a need for the state to restore and maintain at least 600,000 acres for multiple at-risk species in the coming decades. Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange / Also tagged AB 2087, advance mitigation, agencies, at-risk species, california, central valley habitat exchange, conservation credits, conservation finance, development, endangered species, environmental defense fund, giant garter snake, habitat, habitat conservation, habitat exchange, habitat quantification tool, investment, landowners, markets, mitigation, monarch butterfly, Swainson's hawk, working lands | Comments are closed

How California farmers can help salmon survive, and what’s in it for them

By Dan Kaiser / Bio / Published: March 2, 2016

California’s Chinook salmon are large fish that can grow up to 58 inches in length and weigh up to 129 pounds. But most salmon do not grow this large, especially in drought conditions, lacking sufficient habitat. (Credit: seafoodwatch.org)

Already an endangered species, California salmon populations have reached record lows.

Fisheries officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that just 3 percent of this generation of winter-run Chinook salmon survived in the Sacramento River. This is a record low survival rate – more than 10 times worse than the survival rate before the California drought.

How does drought affect salmon?

Salmon at any stage need cold water to survive, and severe drought conditions have put a chokehold on the state’s water supply, which relies on snow melt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Without this snow melt, there is less cold water flowing into California’s waterways, creating higher than normal water temperatures in the Sacramento River.

But it’s not just the lack of cold water that’s affecting salmon populations. They also lack sufficient habitat to grow and thrive. Even if the drought ended today, they would still be in peril without adequate habitat. Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged agriculture, california, central valley, central valley habitat exchange, drought, ecosystems, farms, habitat exchange, knaggs ranch, nigiri project, sacramento river, salmon, water use, western water | Comments are closed

Collaborative conservation: A ripe example from America’s farms

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: February 19, 2015

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has been working with farmers and ranchers for more than a decade to transform business as usual by providing incentives for conservation. As EDF’s 2014 strategic plan notes, “we’ve seen some encouraging things.”

EDF staff join farmers and other conservation collaborators in the field to track outcomes for habitats and species.

With proven success in the field, we are now looking to take these programs to scale to boost food production while maintaining profitable farms, a safe environment and healthy people. Read More »

Posted in Carbon Market, Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged birds, california trout, central valley, central valley habitat exchange, conservation, ecosystems, farming, floodplain, garter snake, habitat exchange, habitat. california, john brennan, knaggs ranch, sustainable agriculture, waterfowl | Comments are closed

California’s new water law a win for agriculture and the environment

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: December 3, 2014

Now that voter passage of a $7.5-billion water bond is firmly set in California’s rear-view mirror, it’s time to look forward and map out the road before us. How will the money be spent, and where will it drive change?

Beneficiaries of the new law will be vast, to be sure, but a good chunk of change is slated to support farm communities while restoring habitat and freeing water up for the environment. Here’s how:

$900 million for groundwater sustainability

This funding has the potential to improve the quality and reliability of groundwater resources that many agricultural communities across the state depend on. It is designed to ensure that projects are prioritized based on several criteria, including how the project will prevent the spread of groundwater contamination into storage areas, how the project will impact local water supply reliability, and whether the project can recharge vulnerable and high-use groundwater basins.

Posted in Habitat Exchange / Also tagged agriculture, california, conservation, ecosystems, endangered species, groundwater, habitat exchange, sustainable agriculture, Swainson's hawk, water bond, water use, Western Farm Press, western water | Comments are closed

“Growing” habitat can help agriculture and wildlife weather the drought

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: September 11, 2014

The California drought is putting the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers at serious risk. Without a reliable water supply, many fields are going fallow. This not only threatens the state’s world-leading agricultural economy, it significantly impacts wildlife species that depend on agricultural lands for survival.

A pioneering program under development in California’s Central Valley, however, may offer farmers and wildlife some relief. It’s called the Central Valley Habitat Exchange, and while it wasn’t conceived for the express purpose of helping growers in times of drought, it can reward producers who provide habitat by growing less water-intensive crops. Here’s how.